A HUGE giveaway!

Since I don't think my last blog post was exciting enough (kidding)… I am really excited to share with you some MORE great news! It could be that I am probably just easily excitable, but I think this first announcement is definitely cause for celebration! The amazing team behind Hill City Bride has teamed up with their vendors again for an incredible new project. Together, over 40 people are coming together to giveaway an ENTIRE WEDDING!

I'm talking the dress, tux, bridesmaid dresses, flowers, hair, make-up, spa services before the wedding, day of photography, an engagement session, bridal session… this list is going on and on and on.

And one incredible couple will have the opportunity to win it ALL.

Head over to the official site to find out the details and enter to win!!

mrs. mary | lynchburg wedding photographer

I am knee-deep into wedding season and have a bazillion and one things to blog about. But first up, I have been super excited to blog about Mary's bridal portraits since 5 minutes after we finished her session back in early May! She married her sweetheart, Chris, this past Saturday so I can finally share my favorites from her session. Without further ado...

Angela | Fredericksburg Wedding Photographer

Angela was an absolutely stunning bride both during her bridal session and of course also on her wedding day. Here are a few of my favorite images from her bridal session a few weeks ago. Come back soon for the sneak peek of her and Doug's wedding that happened just this past Saturday!

Style Shoot | Lynchburg Wedding Photographer

So I mentioned to you all weeks ago (on Facebook) that I was working on a special project and I couldn't wait to share the details with you. Well, the day has finally come! A few months ago Jennifer called me about an idea for a project and after hearing the details it didn't take me more than a second to decide I was on board. After a few long meetings with a core group of people (the project management team), we watched as various Hill City Bride vendors came together on a cold, snowy day in an old building with no electricity (read: no heat) and broken out windows. They brought their individual talents and came together to make Jennifer's vision come to life. The images you see below are the final results.

I could not be more proud of this project, more happy for Jennifer, or more excited about future projects with Hill City Bride. Please check out the fruits of our labor in Lynchburg Living's Hitched issue that came out just this past Wednesday and also in coming weeks on the Hill City Bride blog. In the meantime, here are a few pictures I took of the magazine spread.

I'm just a little bit proud... ;)

And, please, do not miss this incredible behind-the-scenes video shot by Brad Bennet of Shaking Hands Production.

Hill City Bride :: Royal Romance :: from Shaking Hands Productions on Vimeo.

It was truly an honor to work with such a hugely talented team of wedding industry professionals. I cannot wait for our next project!

Stay tuned to Hill City Bride for more photos from the day, DIY projects and behind the scenes pictures!

google wedding planner | for brides

Oh, that google team... they are always up to something!

This week, google launched a wedding planning website in honor of the day of love around the corner. I got word of this yesterday and did a little exploring and I gotta say - I wish I had this tool when I was planning my wedding! It is very thorough, complete with document templates and tips from leading business owners in the wedding industry.

Brides, if you are just beginning the planning process of your wedding, take a minute to browse the new google wedding website. I know the tools, tips, and templates they have will be VERY helpful for you without all the commercialism of other wedding planning sites. Sometimes other wedding planning sites add non-essentials to suggested to-do lists, adding stress to a bride on a time crunch and/or budget. That is the best part of google. They have the user's best interests in mind, not their advertisers or business partners! (Or so it seems.)

So, go check it out! Build a free wedding website and take advantage of the document templates. Share the documents with your fiance (and/or parents) and have fun planning together!

(Note: please make sure you check with your wedding photographer before you upload their images to google's image editing website. It is most likely against their copyright license to edit their photographs.)